


Well-Earned

by ByTheAngell (SomeLittleInfamy)



Series: Flufftober 2020 [13]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Birthday, Birthday Presents, Fluff, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:34:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26992225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomeLittleInfamy/pseuds/ByTheAngell
Summary: On Lydia's birthday, Alec shows up to deliver some good news.
Relationships: Lydia Branwell & Alec Lightwood
Series: Flufftober 2020 [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949836
Comments: 16
Kudos: 55





	Well-Earned

**Author's Note:**

> Flufftober Day 13: Birthday

There’s a knock on her door and Lydia frowns. She intentionally rescheduled her meetings for the day and isn’t expecting any visitors, so she goes over to peek cautiously through the eye hole in the door ready to ignore whoever it is. When she sees Alec Lightwood standing on the other side she huffs out a laugh, and slides open the lock.

“What are you doing here?” she asks, her tone suspicious.

“Bringing you your birthday present,” Alec says simply. “And you better appreciate it because I had to go _very_ out of my way to be the one to deliver it to you.”

Lydia glances at the envelope in his hand warily. “I thought we agreed on no gifts,” she reminds him, her tone accusing. “You promised.”

“I think you’ll want this one,” he insists, and she steps aside and motions for him to come in.

Ever since their Almost Wedding, the two of them remained in touch, working together more and more often this past year in Idris on council and clave assignments. They understand one another, and more than that, they _trust_ each other, which goes a long way with the work they deal in. It took her a little while to come to terms with the fact that the decision that led to John’s death wasn’t the wrong one, and Alec and Isabelle Lightwood were huge parts of that.

Her continued friendship with Alec also has the bonus of really messing with the heads of everyone who assumes she should hate him after ‘what he did to her’. She’s never been anything other than happy for Alec and Magnus which really throws a lot of her friends and family for a loop. The work that Alec is doing (or at least trying to do) within the Clave is admirable and she’s happy to be a part of it however she can.

“Alright, you win. I will grudgingly accept whatever it is you got me entirely against my wishes,” Lydia states matter-of-factly, crossing her arms as if she’s actually mad at him for getting her anything. The smile never leaves Alec’s face, though. In fact, it only grows wider at her words.

“It isn’t something I got you, so much as something I get the chance to give you,” he admits. “You got it all on your own.”

Now she’s properly confused, but takes the envelope he holds out to her anyway, opening it carefully and noting the seal of the Consul on it.

“Lydia Branwell,” she reads aloud. “It is my honor to extend to you a formal offer of the position of Head of the Lisbon Institute…”

Lydia trails off, skimming the rest of the letter before dropping her hand to her side, staring at Alec in disbelief.

“What is this?” she asks, as if there’s any chance she might have read it wrong.

“I just got confirmation today,” Alec says. “We’ve been pushing to reassign permanent positions at the Institutes Jonathan attacked, and your name never left the table as a clear choice to head one of them.”

Lydia looks from Alec down to the paper in her hand, and then back up at Alec, eyes watery with tears she’s quick to blink away. “I can’t believe it. Alec, you shouldn’t have-”

“I’m going to stop you right there, Lydia,” Alec cuts in. “I didn’t do anything except throw your name out for consideration. You did the rest by being the perfect candidate, by showing a willingness to make the right calls over the easy ones, time and time again. This isn’t a real gift, I didn’t pull any strings. You did all the work yourself. You earned this, Lydia.”

Lydia nods numbly at his words, letting the positive affirmations wash over her, willing herself to accept and believe them. She’d given up her dream of running an institute, as much as she would’ve said otherwise, the moment Alec stepped away from her on their wedding day. And she’d been fine with it, or at least as fine as anyone can be giving up on a dream in favor of accepting a harsher reality. But now…

“Thank you,” she says, the words coming out in a quiet, shocked voice still weighed down in disbelief. “I don’t know what to say, I-”

“Say you’ll take it. Say I can tell them yes. You deserve this, and they’ll be lucky to have you,” Alec says, his tone practically pleading. She believes him, too. She knows that he wouldn’t be saying that if he didn’t mean every last word of it.

“Yes,” Lydia replies, without a second thought. Even if Alec did pull some strings, this is everything she ever wanted and she’d be a fool to turn it down. “Yes, of course I will.”

“Then let me be the first to wish a happy birthday to the new Head of the Lisbon Institute,” Alec says, beaming. “Happy Birthday, Lydia.”

**Author's Note:**

> (Find me on [Tumblr](http://bytheangell.tumblr.com) and also on [Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/By_The_Angell)! <3 )


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